GHS managed a rather comfortable team-victory with 225 points.
San Benito placed second with 187 points while Alisal’s 172.5
points edged Palma by one-and-a-half points for third place.
Aaron Gonzalez had been hearing the stories all week.
There were stories about Adin Duenas, who wrestled at 119 pounds his sophomore year before getting bumped up to the 130-pound weight class prior to the Central Coast Section Championships, where he took second; or stories about Rudy Maldanado, a 103-pounder at the junior varsity level who not only got called up to the varsity stage, but also filled in at CCS in the 119-pound weight class.
He took fifth.
Saturday was Gonzalez’s turn, though. A 125-pound wrestler all season for the Mustangs, the Gilroy junior got the bump to 140s when three of his teammates all dropped a weight class. And after hearing stories of inspiration all week, stories about Duenas and Maldanado, Gonzalez got his chance to do the same at the Tri-County Athletic League Championships.
He didn’t disappoint.
“History was on our side,” Gilroy head coach Greg Varela said.
Gonzalez defeated North Salinas’ Alfred Noza by fall (3:29), edged Alisal’s Oscar Mendez in overtime by a 3-1 decision, then topped the top-seed, San Benito’s Mikey Soto, by a 6-3 decision in the 140-pound final to help lead Gilroy to its second straight TCAL Tournament championship.
Gilroy compiled 255 points and defeated runner-up San Benito (187) behind eight league champions, including Leif Dominguez (105), Paul Fox (114), Victor Olmos (121), Nikko Villarreal (127), Willie Fox (132), Blake Kastl (137) and Felix Gonzalez (162).
The Mustangs were champions of the regular season for the ninth year in a row, too, a regular season that saw Aaron Gonzalez compete mostly in the 125-pound weight class.
But that wasn’t the case on Saturday, though.
“The coaches were telling me I’d have a good chance of getting (to the final),” said Gonzalez, who, although is seeking to win each and every match he competes in, was simply looking to qualify toward this weekend’s CCS Championships and remain healthy at TCALs.
He did both — and then some — despite weighing in at about 130 pounds for the year-end league meet, and despite having not competed at 140 pounds all year.
“It was in the best interest of the team,” he said. “Just wrestle my best. Whatever happens happens.”
Gonzalez advanced to the 140-pound final against Soto, who jumped out to an early 2-0 lead before the Gilroy grappler took over.
Gonzalez scored an escape to cut the deficit in the first round, then somehow managed to jimmy out of a position — he was upside down and had his ankles around Soto’s head — that acted as a turning point in the match.
Gonzalez held on to Soto’s arm and shifted all his weight to one side before squirming out of the position, which was one turn away from resulting in a Hollister takedown. Gonzalez instead scored a two-point takedown to grab a 3-2 lead entering the second period, and never trailed again.
“It worked,” Gonzalez said. “But it was a hard match.”
Soto did injure his right thumb in the bout, but Gonzalez limited him to just a single escape point for the remainder of the match, nonetheless.
“We expected him to compete and be ready, and he was,” Varela said of Gonzalez, who moved up three weight classes on Saturday. “But winning it, that was a bonus.”
Varela had a relatively stress-free TCAL Tournament, with the exception that Gilroy was hosting the event.
The Mustangs had 13 wrestlers compete at TCALs — no 173-pound wrestler — and had each competitor qualify to this weekend’s CCS Championships.
Better yet, no Mustang found himself in a do-or-die fifth- and sixth-place consolation match. Only the top five in each division advanced to CCS, and Gilroy had no wrestler finish worse than fourth place.
“It makes the medal round fun,” Varela said. “You’re going to CCS, no matter.”
The medal round was a blast for the Mustangs, in fact. Of the 13 wrestlers, 12 of them won their final match at TCALs, with the first seven divisions all faring in favor of the Mustangs.
Dominguez set the tone for Gilroy when he defeated Alisal’s Johnny Alonzo by a 13-1 major decision in the 105-pound final. It was the sophomore’s second straight TCAL title.
Dominguez previously defeated Alonzo at Mid-Cals by a 19-0 tech fall, although he said he didn’t let his previous win affect his approach on Saturday.
“I just kept the same mindset,” Dominguez said. “The last time, I beat him. But that doesn’t mean I’m gonna beat him again.”
Dominguez still controlled a 6-1 lead entering the final round, when he quickly scored a takedown and a pair of near-falls en route to the major decision.
From there, top-seeded wrestlers Paul Fox, Olmos, Villarreal, Willie Fox and Kastl each won their respective weight classes before Gonzalez put the final touch on the streak.
“We were all pulling our weights,” Dominguez said.
At 137 pounds, Kastl defeated San Benito’s Zack Rodriguez by fall (1:37), and got a taste of the rivalry he missed out on a couple of weeks ago. Kastl, a junior and now a two-time TCAL champion, was sidelined with a knee injury on Feb. 8 when the Mustangs battled the Balers.
He had his knee drained the day of the dual, took a week and a half off from wrestling, then returned to the mat before running the table at TCALs — no rust entering the year-end tournament.
“We go hard every day in practice,” Kastl said. “The kids I go against, Nikko (Villarreal) and Willie (Fox), they’re some of the best in the state, so it’s a high caliber.”
Kastl won both his matches on Saturday by first-round fall.
Top-seed Felix Gonzalez finished first as well at 162 pounds, while Andrew Toste (191), Izack Lugo (217) and Jose Lara (287) each finished third in their respective weight classes. Julian Carbijal was fourth at 154 pounds.
Each wrestler, meanwhile, will compete at the CCS Championships on Friday and Saturday at Independence High School in San Jose, where only the top three wrestlers in each weight class will advance to the state tournament.
“I wouldn’t say their urgency, but their intensity was up,” Varela said of his wrestlers at TCALs. “They know what time it is.”
